My mom had a Kenmore that was probably similar vintage -- possibly a little older. It was the machine I learned to sew on, but it was a center needle. I'd never seen the left position needle before these photos. I can see why quilters would not like the left position -- it limits visibility, makes it nearly impossible to stitch with the seam allowance on either side (esp to the left) and the narrow (1/4") seam allowance that is standard in quilting might not feed evenly. Not sure if they make 1/4" foot for those machines -- that would help. I'm just intrigued and puzzled by the left needle. It looks like they were designed so you lined up the edge of the fabric with the edge of the foot and the needle would be on the stitching line -- as long as you wanted a 5/8" seam allowance or whatever that was. I sew things with anywhere from 1/4" to 3/4", so the idea is annoying to me -- but seems very "modern" in retro way -- IYKWIM.

Thanks again. I'm gonna make this work. :)

Aside from a stint doing masks (with 1/4" seam allowances and I'm now wondering how I did that...) this gets hauled out for costumes and canvas. I don't really need a spare. Nahhh. I don't know.

Fori, I admire your determination. If you don't use the machine a lot and don't have an interest in doing more, it's certainly giving your best shot. And there is hand stitching. I mention new because I have found myself doing things I never considered before and would not have done with my older machine and I really enjoying making and creating. That may or may not be a thing for you.

I sew a LOT! I use a zipper foot for welting, single & double. I really like it. My two machines are computerized/electronic machines. A Bernina & a Brother Runway machine. The Brother....the stitching, if you top stitch....doesn't look as good...the stiches just don't have a pretty-straight-professional look to it. The Bernina is AWESOME! It can sew leather or fine silk. It has the click of good metal....it's a seamtress thang to hear it...petalique mentions it....I get it! I paid $600-used for the Bernina & $200 for shipping. It was about 3 years old when I purchased it....years ago. It does embroidery....beautifully!

@petalique...what's a White green machine cost?

(slight digression here)

Nicole, have you seen the new Janome? Continental M17? It boasts the largest embroidery field on the home market -- 11 x 18 IIRC. I would love to do embroidery on clothing that isn't one little bit at a time. I don't think they are in stores yet. I just stumbled on a YouTube video when looking at something else and had to go searching for more info. The list price is more than my first car -- and it was a convertible I ordered new (more than a few years ago)!

I think Fori wants us to leave her alone while she tricks her machine into doing what she wants it to. I want to see the finished project.

Nice Bernina, nicole!

A couple if years ago, Singer had these machines tha wouls sew and embroider and offered a large field.

The really wonderful thing was that they offered softwae that allowed you to create your own quality embroidery designs. It also accepted mostother design formats — and you could convert one format to another. You could stitch out any characters and fonts on your keyboard. IIRC, you had to have a laptop nearby to visualize and design on.

I would have loved to have one of those and the software. I was working up to it when they product began disappearing from the market. Dammit! I learned later that they had such a good thing, that someone bought them out on this particular product line. Singer wasn’t asking much for what you could get. Robust features. Either some company bought them to use and mark up price on some parts of it, or to kill it. You cold do all sorts of things with it. I used the save the details and images and like on my PC hard drive.

@lascatx...WOW! I watched the video on the M17! That thang rocks my world! 🪡About $7k...looks like.

There is a module I can buy for my Bernina that takes a photograph of an object and then copies it in embroidery. Link

MY upholstery projects · More Info

Last year....I reupholstered the seats of this leather Bernhardt "and" a matching ottoman.

MY upholstery projects · More Info

I made seat covers for my husbands truck & embroidered the make on the front seats. That Bernina is small...and sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! 🪡

The M17 retail is closer to $23,000!

@clt3...OH! The M7 is $7k...I don't see any M17's for sale....had to guess.....

I sure like to look at what's out there. I can't imagine wanting more. I'm pretty happy with the Bernina! I don't feel ripped off. 💕 If it ever breaks down I will have lots of wonderful memories....ya know....

Nicole! I am in awe! Iwish I had your talent and patience.

I have sewn a few dresses, didnt know what I was doing. One had a zipper and that worked. This ws back in the late 60s and pretty much anything went in those hippy dippy days. Since then I’ve not attempted much, mostly patching jeans because we do yard work and garden and I like to be frugal with work clothes.

I’m like to see links for that $23K Janome.

I look at SMs but don’t buy anymore. I’ve gotten some good deals on used machines. Picked up a nice Janome embroidery machine for only $100 a couple of years ago. I cleaned them up and lubricated and tested it. I have photo of the stitch samples.

Re that WHITE machine

(Darn, I wish I could just keep one device and had more energy. A lot of my images are not on this device, but on various hard disks.) If you see/want one, try to get the double sided cams. There are some built in stitches — straigh, ZZ, Serpentine, others. It is heavy and doesn’t have the ”lift” that most other Kenmores have — you know, where you can get a lot of material between the presser foot and bed. Great for sewing thick pieces like upholstery or bulky seems of jeans.

nicole — that green sewing machine withe the WHITE label was made in Germany (West Germany in those days) by Gritzner-Kayser and they made the same machine for Kenmore. There are’nt too many around, but they will last forever, so I do’nt know why that is.

I have a Kenmore badged one in copper color. Pretty. But I am a sucker for the green. I got mine for some travelling and for under what going rate is. Last I saw on CL, somone was asking about $375 for a pretty green one.

I was tring to edit this post, but HOUZZ hasn’t made that easy lately. Attemptin to select text in Reverse Video, causes the screen to zip all over the place. Flies way, no control.

Anyone else notice this?

Here is a link you might find interesting:

https://mivintagesewingmachines.blogspot.com/2012/02/kenmore-117841.html

I love looking at sewing machine blogs.

Another:

https://www.victoriansweatshop.com/post/the-story-of-my-kenmore-117-841-moms-machine-7901434

And here is one of my fave YouTube sewing machine persons (Alexander Dyer) discussing the machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UMnKjzsRUU,

OOooh, and lots of photo here that show stich cams and innerds. I bet is cleaned uo well.

✂️ https://imgur.com/a/sYF8a

My copper one is in a cabinet and I need the space.

Fori, we’re not hijaacking your thread 🤞honest 😎, just keeping you company as you work on your double welting project. Sure you dont want so spend some money on another sewing machine? Maybe a $23,000 one?

I appreciate the company!

I don't sew. Would I sew if I had a $27,000 machine? I might! But probably not. Maybe I could have it on a trial basis to see if I can develop productive habits with it.

I haven't progressed on my project. I got into one of those furniture-moving moods (as far as I can tell, I'm the only person who gets these) and you can't have a sewing machine set up in the middle of the room when you're rearranging everything...

It's possible I wouldn't feel the need to reassess my furniture layout if it didn't have a sewing machine cart in the middle of the room. Maybe I just don't want to do it!

@petalique...I worked @ Sears & purchased a Kenmore w/ cams. After 27 years it was just worn out. I made my DH a suit jacket to wear to a wedding....made velveteen suits to wear to work, gifts. Made down vests & sold them in the late '70's. I even made a rabbit fur jacket lined in satin for my mom with my Kenmore! Oh...and rabbit fur hats! 😁 I don't know what I'd do with another sewing machine...? If one needs cleaning...I just move to the other one....so an extra is plenty. 🤪 I looked at your links......amazing old machines! I like this Janome M17 demo Note: My Bernina has a LOT of these same features....there's only so much you can do to a sewing machine....right! I have knobs to turn to lengthen or shorten a stitch too, after you pull it up on the computer screen. I just made a magnetic pin dish, by gluing a strong magnet to the underside of this little dish. Done! Don't need to spend $23K... 🤣 joking

@Fori...your in good company. I love sewing and hearing about others projects.

I purchased these little gems at Hobby Lobby...

I made a few pup coats and some Pee Jeans or JIC Jeans (JIC — Just In Case).

Very casual. For when he was listening to old Dylan records and the Stones and couldn’t be bothered going to the door.

Fori, no need to sew anything. Just get some long fabric strips and put the pedal to the metal. Beautiful sounds.

@lascatx....would you consider buying a M17? Which computerized sewing machine do you currently have? Are you looking to embroider pillows? That's the only thing that large I can think of...lol

My neighbor found a Bernina long arm on sale & spent $6k. She's a BIG Tula Pink fan and it came with Tula's design discs.

Would I consider buying the M17? Not at that price and even if I got the same kind of open box after a quilt show deal I got on my current machine (Skyline S7), it might still be only in my wildest dreams. I'd have to do a LOT of embroidery or enjoy it more than a lot of other things to justify anything like that. I am perfectly happy with my current machine for sewing and I haven't really done machine embroidery. The things that appeal most for me are the larger areas on clothing and such, so that large field on the M17 wows me, but I also know that other makers have large fields and lots of features for a lot less. And unless you start a business, how much can you stitch and use, or even gift?

I think having a long arm is in the same category -- you have to do an awful lot of it and almost need to have a business to make it worthwhile. And funny that Tula designs come with the long arm. Tula doesn't quilt most of her work. She talks about sending her quilts to Angela Walters. They are both amazing talents.

Your upholstery work looks great! Fur hats! Have you ever met a project you were afraid of? You and Lars amaze me. Maybe I'd have more skills if I had kept sewing, but I went dormant for many years. I have a wingback chair I would like to recover and a loveseat, chair and ottoman neighbors were discarding that I am holding for an artist who wants to do something artsy with them. If she doesn't claim them this summer, I may work on at least one of them. And I should try clothing again. I had a couple of bad experiences that all went in the trash -- bad fabric that shred and a dress I hated. Between that and having to alter nearly every stinking piece, it's hard to get the enthusiasm back.

Like Fori, I am rearranging and reorganizing. Then I hope to have room to set up two vintage Singers in the room. One was my grandmother's and one was a thrift store find. My husband just took a liking to it and when he went back to get it, they had marked it and the cabinet down to $25. I want to see how well they work and learn how to clean and maintain them if they do. Have to work some embroidery in there somewhere.

@lascatx..Thanks! I'd love to see your projects when you get going on them!

I was still in high school when I sewed fur hats. 💦My 1st sewing machine was found on top of the neighbors trash can....being thrown out.

My neighbor, volunteers to make a small quilt a week, for Quilts of Valor, I believe.

Lascatx. poxs pf the Singers? esp the thrift find. Or model numbers? Good that your DH is interested.

Minor update:

1. cork works better than masking tape, but still requires masking tape to hold it in place so you don't have to lose that ultra cool hackjob look. still floppier than I like but at a certain point you have to blame yourself and not your equipment, especially if you have the ability to upgrade your equipment and refuse to do so.

2. this machine would very much prefer it if you remember to do all the things. don't get distracted fiddling with the foot when there are things like actually dropping the foot or raising the feed dogs that also need to be done. this is not the macrame you want...and these are not beautiful sewing machine sounds.

Do show more cool projects! (Mine is a pile of tiny snips of thread!)

I'm cycling backwards on projects right now -- had to disassemble a mug rug I was preparing to quilt when brushing off the chalk lines damaged the fabric! It messed up the print. Ack! That must take special talent. LOL I'm replacing that block and quilting for an end of the school year gift, then I need to take the machine in for it's annual service. It always comes up when I'm wanting to work on several things and hate taking a few days - but life takes days too. It's not like I sew every single day. I will work on moving furniture and reorganizing while it is getting serviced. Maybe if I get everything reorganized and cleaned up it will make it easier to sew more days. Folding and refolding lots of fabric to fit different places until I get it right is not my idea of fun though. I'll be back when it gets fun. LOL

MY upholstery projects · More Info

More project photos to try to keep you going Fori, as requested...here is a zippered slip cover. I made two for my pair of wingbacks. They're printed linen, back when kilim beige was a thang.☃️

Hey can you make me one? It's way above my skill level but I don't know how to find an upholsterer. (The one I'm trying to do now is just a seat.)

And that fabric is still great...and matching pattern?? Show off. :)

Do mine:

I love this chair. I don't mind the fabric either, but it's worn through in spots.

@Fori...Years ago Trailrunner invited me to come stay with her and use her pool if I'd bring my sewing machine and slip cover HER two wingbacks! Someone else asked me to mail the pattern to them. 🤣 I make the patterns out of newspaper I lay on the chair, clip as I go.

I LOVE your chair too. Yours is a Chippendale wingback. Pottery Barn is selling it for $1500...about what an upholsterer would charge around here. So many fabrics to choose from! It takes 6 yards of printed fabric to do one chair. I agree tho...not a good first project.

Your wingback could be AMAZING again!

I also have a wingback I want to redo. It was last done my my grandmother -- the back is a green velvet and the front is embroidered linen that she embroidered. The linen was not a heavy enough weight for upholstery and it has worn holes. When the chair came to my house from my parents', I said I would try to come up with a way to use the embroidery in some kind of project for each of the three of us. I'm still working on that -- I think I need to strip it and then see what I am working with, but I'm thinking they will have to be used like appliques. If the linen was solid, I could consider making pillows or something. Not really sure what I will do, but then I will want to recover te chair -- and that may be the easier part. Especially if nicole wants to help! LOL

ETA: I found this photo -- the seat cushion is actually upside down here. The right side has a design that related to the back, but it has the worst wear and the cushion got turned over to try to prevent anyone from sitting and tearing it.

I have stared at the chair and wondered if there was any way to preserve the embroidery and apply it to another cover, but I'm not sure there is a way to applique it and maintain the integrity. It would be extremely tedious and all by hand -- but anything I do to work with this would likely be the same.

That's so pretty, lascatx. It's so hard to deal with something like that.

My chair IS amazing, Nicole. I haven't found new ones I like as well. They are too tall or too deep and don't fit me right.

@Fori...no..no...never buy new if you own an OLD quality piece. I'm just saying...YOUR wingback is worth a LOT! Well worth the time and money to upholster. A new piece can not compare.

@lascatx...WOW! What a work of art! I've never seen anything like it! I know a LOT of people would NOT want to sit in such a chair for fear of wearing the fragile embroidery. If you want it to be a usable chair...? I would slip cover it or reupholster it....maybe even frame the embroidery....like an old sampler. Pillows...that's a good idea too.

FWIW, I also think putting the separate pieces of that lovely embroidery in frames to hang up might be the best way to preserve and share it.

I'd frame it. I mean, I wouldn't actually get around to it, but I would intend to frame it.

A chair you can't sit in is a rather large statement art piece. :) I know this because I have had two chairs without seats knocking about my home for decades.

My intent has been to frame it. The fabric is too delicate to do anything else without reinforcing or appliquing, if that is even possible, and the crewel embroidery is probably too heavy to allow it to be sandwiched under glass for a tray or table or something. They are large pieces to frame. Unless I come up with another idea.

Could we...mail our chairs to Nicole?

Story: I got these 2 wingbacks FREE off CL, by Taylor King. The guy put them in the back of his pickup truck & lost a seat cushion on the way home. I purchased a foam seat cushion, then purchased solid blue upholstery fabric, used the fabric from the bottom and sides of the existing cushion to make a 2nd matching cushion. Then....I made slip covers.

Nothings ever easy....ya know. 😊

I can bring it in a truck, if that's how you prefer to get your projects. :)

That's either grapple or snow coming down....I have the time! 🙃lol

I would love to just have someone work with me on my chair project -- it's like multiple projects, and covering the chair is actually less intimidating than removing the stitched linen and deciding what to do with it. I saw someone suggest glass ornaments as a way to preserve bits of vintage lace. I may toy with the idea of the grapes or berries in a glass ball. I haven't been terribly motivated because I don't really have wall space and I don't think my brother or sister would hang them. Maybe an ornament or something not framed would be better......

I'd love to see the embroidery mounted in glass (acrylic?) slips to line the back of a china cabinet or something, but nobody does fussy stuff like that these days. It's a tough one.

Meanwhile I am decades into recovering simple chair seats. Decades! So I am not encouraging haste. :)

Fori, that is an idea I had not considered. I might have to change the china displayed in the cabinet to work with it, but what I can't change would be the size and I don't think we are in the right ballpark. I'm willing to measure and look at it though.

At the turn of this century I worked at JoAnn Fabrics. There was a product to iron onto fabric to make it waterproof. Or maybe to make it stronger. Is there a fabric store near you to advise about this product and can it be used for home dec fabric?

FYI I found Schmetz machine needles for .50ea! Click to see Amazon

Must have been an error -- show up at $5.49 now. But thanks for trying to pass along a find!

Oh, I have an update, not on the wingback chair, but an update. I took my sewing machine in for its annual service and cleaning and was talked into coming back for an embroidery class the next day. I wound up deciding to trade in a never used baby embroidery machine and got a larger one with more features. I had that machine during the time my parents both passed, my sister divorced and I helped her reno a house and business property, among many other things. I forgot it was waiting on me at one point and then found that the small embroidery area and limited ability failed to inspire me. I want to do some larger projects and have more creative flexibility -- so I splurged! I started refinishing my sewing table (my mom's old office desk -- 50 or so years old) when I took the machine in for service, and am waiting for the finish to cure, so I haven't used it, but I look forward to playing soon.

$5.15 for a PACK of 10 needles!

You are right! I saw a package and went immediately to a 5 pack. Had a lot going on here today. But I'm still seeing $5.49 -- in that Amazon price of the moment way of doing things.

I use a Singer 4423, which is marketed as "heavy duty." If you want the same check here. It'll work for bar tacks because she made me some straps. In terms of stiches, it accomplishes far more than I require and now costs around $170-180 on Amazon. I got lucky and obtained a bargain price of approximately $90 or so from Amazon four years ago.

If I needed another sewing machine, I'd go to our local Habitat for Humanity store, which offers secondhand things. They always have sewing machines, but it's a crapshoot whether they're any good. On the other side, the rates are reasonable, and it's close to my house and convenient to shop.

Lascatx, your wing chair with the embroidery is lovely. I wouldn’t be in a rush. I think I noticed some slight discoloration from someone’s head. Yes? is that what bothers you?

I have some ideas for how you might remove that (if indeed there is discoloration).

Fori — very nice wing chair lines. The chair has good bones.

I was at a home operated antique store barn and fell in love with one of the most attractive, ample wing chairs with wings that bowed out in the most elegant way. The upholstery was very worn and it would need replacement (expensive) and probably a slip cover to protect that. I asked the owner for a price and had to gulp hard. I believe the quote was something like $600. I had to pass. Maybe it was Thomas Jefferson's.

Nicole — I was looking at sewing machines and came across another of those German built Gritzner-Kayser sewing machines like my green one. This one was the copper color. The seller was asking ~ $360 and the machine didn’t even look cleaned up, so it probably wasn’t oiled and adjusted either. One thing about that model, I don’t beleave it has the same amount of ”lift” between the presser foot and the bed as some of the other all metal 158 prefix Kenmores have (5 quarters).

Last night I came across some selling two machines for $50. One was a Singet that I don’t care for, but the other was for a Kenmore 158.504 that looked promising to straight stitch (ss) or zig zag (zz) heavy material. But I don’t need it and the drive is about 75 miles each way. Gas is expensive nowadays. Tempting though.

Everyone here with chairs that need upholstering should list what sort of room and meals, lake, ocean, mountains or canyon views they can offer, as well as features like wilderness hiking or cultural highlights such as theatre, concerts and museums or 3 star dining.

We could queue up for your visit with your scissors and talent.

Petal -- Yes, there is discoloration on the back, and also on the face of the seat (the green velvet is the back of both the cushion and the body of the chair), but I think I could try to work on that if it weren't for the fact that the linen has some holes worn through and other areas look frail. The fabric is no longer sound and the chair cannot be used as it is. Until I take it apart, I can't be sure if I can save all the embroidery. If I could, I might consider turning the embroidered areas into appliques and applying them to a new, heavier fabric. I just refinished my mother's old office desk -- might have been sold as a dining table with shallow drawers hidden in the skirt? I am using it as my sewing table and reworking the whole room...then I can start working on other projects. I got nothing done today -- we were up 4 times last night and put down our remaining dog today. I'll try to get back to productive tomorrow. No guarantees.

Sorry about your pup, Lascatx. :(

I am very sorry to hear about your dog. Rest up and take care.

Thanks, Fori and Petal. Today was the first time in over 28 years I have woken up at home and not had a 4-paw around.

Fori, what happened with the project you were working on when you started this thread? Did you manage to finish your project? I took my machine in for service and wound up buying an embroidery machine too. I suddenly have SO many more projects in mind. But I was thinking last night that this machine might help me in the applique approach. Maybe?

Darn it. I was hoping nobody noticed my lack of progress. I painted my hallway instead.

I did manage to make (I think ) enough welting for one of my two chairs and have rigged a hole saw to make my tufting holes. I still have to cover the *&(# buttons. It might be time to get my very first glue gun.

I folded my sewing machine back in its cabinet and covered it with a dupatta and I'm pretending it's not there for a while. (It's in the living room. I'm pretty good at pretending.)

Thank you, Nicole and I'm sorry, Fori, but thank you for the laugh. Congrats on the welting. I can't help you much with covering buttons -- I've never been very good at it, but I wish I could loan you my machine and help you finish the stitching. You will figure it out. Eventually. Or decide on something totally different.